Friday, July 28, 2006

Today was Day#6 of underpants for Julian. And he's doing so well, I'm afraid I'm going to get overconfident!The first day, last Sunday (7/23), it was a big deal that he told us he had to go once, and we had piles of wet underpants. But by yesterday (Thursday), he only had two accidents, and only one of those was of the "wet but doesn't say anything" variety, and today, he only had one! The one he had today was actually a poop accident, rare for him, but it happened while he was outside, and he came right in to tell me (given this little boy's struggle with his stiff bowels, it's quite understandable). Now he's going less often now (learning to consolidate), can wait a few minutes when he announces it's time to go, and is much more willing to go before we get in the car or leave someplace. And he's been to the Y's Childwatch and my old gym's daycare four times this week, a huge challenge for any new potty-trainer. Next step is for him to learn to handle his clothes himself -- not all his underpants are easy to pull down, and some of his shorts aren't either.

At this rate, he'll night-train before Gabriel! (And ugh, don't get me started on that ... complete opposite of Julian's success, and we have no idea what to do.) I'm not sure I dare yet to say he's done, but he's so close I see no reason to go back to diapers (and I just bought a huge box, darn). I'm so proud of him!Fri.7/28/06

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Forgive me Blogfather, for I have sinned: it's been weeks since my last confession. Our trip back East and various other things have conspired against me, but now I feel the urge to spew once again.

It is hot. Hot Hot Hot here in the Bay Area. We're not used to Tucson weather around here, except for the expectation that things will cool down at night. But even that hasn't happened: it's only gotten down to 70 or so the past two nights, not letting our house cool down enough. Our upstairs air conditioner has been on full-time, but is losing its battle against the temperature.

Normally being as pregnant as I am, this heat would be miserable, but I have plenty of other complaints to overshadow the heat (back fatigue, sciatic pain, and as always, the relentless gastric issues). And nonstop poking, prodding, kicking, bumping, pushing -- from all three children! The boys get me from the outside, and the baby from the inside: constantly climbing the walls in there. If it weren't a baby doing it, it'd be downright annoying. It's hard to say if this baby is as active as Gabriel was, since one really never remembers exactly, but if it's not more, then it's close. Julian I felt a lot too, but his motions were stretchier, not so much flip-floppy. This feels like one bony baby, too.Friday after picking the boys up from Tonya's, I took them to our community pool. I'd been considering cancelling our membership, since it's expensive for something I rarely use, but it's turned out to be great for them.

Julian can touch the bottom in the entire shallow end of the pool, making it much easier for me to play with them since I don't have to hold and catch him the entire time. This time, Dave joined us, so I was able to take some pictures of Gabriel jumping in the water and swimming across the short side of the pool. He loved that!

After swimming, we went to Spoons for dinner -- yes, out to dinner again. Incredibly, both boys were really good. For once, being tired and hungry worked in our favor: they peacefully ate, then Gabriel rested on my lap. They were wiped out.

Saturday we went to Dave's company picnic, at, of all places in the midst of a brutal heat wave, the Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. About the last place I want to be on a hot day is a crowded amusement park, but Santa Cruz being by the ocean was cooler (though still very hot), and right on the beach! Julian has never been to a beach.After a few kiddie rides and lunch, we went to the beach which was also very crowded. And the water cold -- despite the heat, people just don't play in the surf the way we did as kids at Jones Beach. It gets deep fast, it is pretty cold, and the surf is a lot less predictable.Nevertheless, Gabriel got into the groove running from the surf (until he fell in), and Julian got over his initial reluctance with a circle running game.The one thing I underestimated was the draw of the sand: their favorite thing was trying to make sand castles. Time to try a nice safe lake beach for them!

In other news, after 6 straight nights of a wet bed, Gabriel finally kept his bed dry last night, though with a lot of help. Dave's been waking Gabriel up to go, right before we go to bed, which hasn' t been helping. That's been discouraging: no signs of progress at all, except that Gabriel has gotten more used to, and more agreeable about, getting woken up to go. Many people would suggest that he's just not ready, but his new resistance to night-training and his saying "I wanted to sleep but the pee-pee wouldn't listen to me, so I went" tells me he's aware of it, making conscious decisions, and is starting to think of peeing in his bed as his birthright. So it's time. That kid has amazing control, even though he's also a heavy sleeper.

But last night Dave woke him up twice, but most importantly: Gabriel got up himself to go once early this morning, then back to bed. No doubt being taken to the toilet helped that happen, but it's an important first step. Gabriel was proud of being dry this morning, and of course we made a big deal of it. Despite all the laundry, neither Dave or I are anywhere near ready to give up. My sense is that this isn't a bladder maturity thing with him, he's ready.

And, today, Sunday July 23rd, we're starting a potty-training experiment with Julian! So far, when we take him to the potty and persuade him to try to go, he goes, though he also just pees without telling us. Still, I'm ready to give it a fighting shot. We're doing lots of laundry for Gabriel anyway, after all.

Today it's once again brutally hot, though we're a little better prepared. Dave lowered the A/C temp upstairs and ran it all night, and now we're using a big fan to pull some cool air from upstairs to the downstairs, making a big difference down here. It's only 80 instead of 90! The boys are outside playing in a backyard sprinkler; I can't imagine how to keep them indoors even on a day like this. I recall my friend Tom's mother describing summer in Tucson (where Tom lives): it's like winter in Long Island. You just stay inside in the summer (though in Tucson, you do have a little time in the morning before 9am). That's what it's like right now. Whew!

29 weeks along today. My friend Helen, due in late September with her 2nd boy, says at 30 weeks you can start the countdown. It can't come soon enough for me!

Oh, how could I forget, such a nice moment: Saturday when we went to Santa Cruz, I wore a blue flowered maternity shirt that has a little lace trim and ruffled sleeves (very unlike me). And I got such a nice compliment from my #1 guy: "I like your pretty shirt, Mommy." Dave told me later that Gabriel told him that as well. Such a surprise coming from my all-boy firstborn, but how nice.